Once again I am running this list as a central location to let your Secret Santa know when your (hopefully much appreciated) gift has arrived to your house.

Use this list to record what your Secret Santas sent you and remember to include any comments such as thanks that you want to give your Secret Santa. When you post on this list, you may want to make a note on your profile with a link to your entry so your Secret Santa can easily locate your confirmation of delivery and your reaction. That way your Secret Santa can look to see if you received your gift and you can post any comments you may have about the gift here and you can reply without the identity of your Secret Santa ever having to be released!

Please only make an entry when you actually receive the present!

I don't know about anyone else, but I generally obsess about whether a package has arrived at it's intended destination. I drive my wife crazy with checking tracking numbers constantly! So it will be nice to see when those gifts are actually received by the giftee (or are they just sitting unclaimed on the neighbor's porch?)

To see how the previous years' editions of this list have gone, look at these links:

[b]New Note (I placed this in the comments section as well): If you have added a "Comment" of your gift receipt, please take the time to "Add Item" to this GeekList rather than to place a comment in this section of the receipt of your gift. The actual items being added is how the statistics get accumulated for Simon Hunt's great results list located at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/49122

A good example of how to make an entry useful for this other list is located at: this entry.

Making an actual entry will also make it easier for your Secret Santa to locate your Item.

As you slide down The Bannister Of Life, let's hope the splinters are facing the right direction

So, I've had a great Secret Santa this year. My SS has kept in contact and taunted me a-plenty. There was a lot of banter about how pajamas and socks would be a much more practical winter gift than games. I was told last week that my present should be arriving soon, and behold, I came home today to the famous Royal Mail "Sorry, you were out" card. Hooray, I thought, I can pick up my SS gift tomorrow morning (I'll have to get up at the crack of dawn, but it'll be worth it!).

A couple of hours later, there's a knock at the door. A delivery man has arrived with a package for me. Wow, I think, more gifts?! I rip it open eagerly to find... socks!

Thank you for my socks, Santa! You are one crazy bastard; but you made me laugh! My feet are now toasty and warm.

Of course, now I can only hope that this package that needs picking up has some games, otherwise I'm going to have to think of some creative ways to game with socks...

Update 02.12.09: So, I got up at the crack of dawn.

I had to wait to get home before I could open up the box:

And no, there was no way I wasn't going to open these beauties! And anyway, my SS said I could!

Batt'l Khaos and Ca$h 'n' Guns!Thank you so much Santa! I can't wait to point guns at my friends.

One of Santa's brown-clad elves arrived on my doorstep this morning bearing a package from Boulder games. A HEAVY package from Boulder games. Knowing the glorious contents would be wrapped, we decided it would be safe to open it up (plus there're those delicious candy packages to think about. Can't let those sit in a box for a month!). So now I have two beautifully wrapped - one of which is ginormous - games staring at me from the dining table, just begging to be opened. But I shall be strong!

THANKS SANTA!

Update:

Santa! So sorry to keep you waiting! It's not quite Twelfth Night yet, so I'm gonna say it's still Christmas, and so I'm not late.

First off, renewed thanks be to Santa!! The little game turned out to be Coloretto, which we immediately broke out and played upon opening, and which turned out to be far better than I remember from playing it a few years ago, to the point that we played a second game right after the first!

As for Mr. Ginormo Box, that was none other than Tide of Iron! A monster gift, my mind is sufficiently blown. Perfect timing, too, since we've just finished working our way through the various Memoir expansions and are ready for a step up! I'm already poring through the strategies and references here on the Geek...

After a long and eventful week of Thanksgiving, my wife and I were worn out! Only to return to one of the busiest teaching weeks of the year!

A wonderful present sat on our doorstep...waiting for us to return home on Monday night! We opened the package!I know SSanta...we should have waited...but...but...We just couldn't help it...something made us do it!

I took pictures, but my laptop with the memory card reader is shot for now.

Anyway, I got a wonderful surprise when I came home to find a box delivered with what I can assume to be care by my USPS carrier. I tore into the box to discover two very neatly wrapped gifts inside. I was happy as a clam and planned to leave them wrapped, however, my wife and daughter informed me that plan was silly and that I should open them post haste.

You argue with the four year-old! Or my wife!

I am so geeked to have this game along with Pandemic: On the Brink. I have yet to play with the expansion before, so I can't wait to try that out. Thank you so, so much Santa. I'm sorry I'm lame and weak.

So the package has arrived, actually it arrived a few days ago, but the wife unfortunatly was the one to receive it, so she has been holding on to the package. I only got to see the brownish box, and the sticker indicating that there are three games inside. She has opened the box, and see what is in it, so she can arrange other potential game buys for my birthday/christmas eve (same day for me).

She has not been willing to part with much information, but she has caved a little bit and put one of the packages on the table for me, which didn't survive that long, and inside was Wildlife Safari, which we have just finished a few games off, it's actually quite fun.

So far a very big thanks to my secret santa, I am looking forward for the other two gifts, since you hinted that one would be a hit, and another was a game you played with your elfes (I figure that the Loco was the hit and miss game)

So so far a very good christmas, and only 23 days and counting for the rest

Countdown done, finally I was able to open the boxes, one of the particular heavy, and the contents revealed to be:-Napoleon's Triumph-Mr. Jack

I got a package in the mail yesterday and didn't know what it was from and opened it. I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to be getting something from Secret Santa. (In years past my gift arrived after Christmas)

I asked Santa specifically for a game I could play with my son who is just under two. Santa delivered in a big way. When I first opened the box and saw that it was a yellow box I knew it was a HABA game. Just by looking at the cover of the box I knew that it would be something that my son would enjoy. It has little wooden pears, apples, plums, and cherries that you pull off the trees and put into your little woven baskets. It even has a big wooden die - which my son loves.

I'm going to try and wait until Christmas to open it up and try it out with my son. We'll see if that happens

This may give away my identity to my Secret Santa target—but it is such a good story that I think I have to share it.

Earlier today, I placed my order for my Secret Santa target. One of the games I am sending my target is Ghost Stories, a game that I was able to demo at GenCon and fell in love with immediately.

Not 15 minutes after I finished my order, the doorbell rang. A package for me from Time Well Spent. I open it up and it is my Secret Santa gift. And what is the first game I see inside? You guessed it: Ghost Stories!

Also in my gift box was Saboteur, another game high on my current wishlist.

My big box from Fungames Cafe showed up today! Inside are 4 (!) substantial sized, individually wrapped boxes. I'm so excited. We'll see how long I can hold out. This is my 3rd SS, and the first time I've received more than 1 gift. My SS this year was fantastic. Excellent taunts (first year for that too) that really had me curious. If he's up for it, I would love to know who he is.Well, Santa contacted me and gave me the OK, so I opened them! These are what I found:

OK, this one has always intrigued me. I decided I wanted it after playing Snow Tails. The Brothers use very clever mechanics with just the right amount of whimsy. It even got the attention of my wife (who will make me fall over with a coronary if she ever agrees to play a game with me).

I mostly wanted this one to try to interest my 15 and 13 year old daughters in playing a game with me. I got them hooked on Indiana Jones, so this obviously is the next step. Looks deep enough that It'll challenge me too.

Everyone in my family likes sushi, so another attempt to engage my family.

This one was just for me. I saw it played and it looked like a hell of a lot of fun. The graphic design of the entire thing blows my mind too.So, as you can see, my Santa is the best. He obviously put a lot of thought and generosity into his gifts. I must say that this site and its users never cease to amaze me with their generosity. Board Gamers are truly some of the best people I have ever met. When I was opening my gifts my wife was in total shock and kept saying 'and someone you don't know sent all of this to you for Christmas?' She was dumbfounded. So Santa, I hope you have an amazing Christmas and if you ever want to play a vassal game, let me know.

I received the tracking number in my geekmail last week, only to realize the scheduled delivery was the day after Thanksgiving, which is the one day a year that Fedex delivers to my office and no one is there to receive it. So I had to stay patient until Monday, and then until late Monday afternoon, when Fedex shows up.

I had been debating whether to open the box before Christmas or not, or at least waiting until my birthday, which is next week. I am usually a big proponent of saving gifts until the actual holiday, mainly because I just don't get many gifts anymore, and I like having something to unwrap. But when the package arrived I knew my willpower was low, so I figured I'd open the outer packaging and see if there was any indication that Santa wanted me to wait (I got a note like that last year). Not only was there no such orders, but the games weren't wrapped, so I got to happily open up and fondle my new Dominion: Seaside! Whose awesomeness I had just been reading about on a geeklist not 20 minutes before!

Also in the box was Burger Joint (whose picture I'm having trouble inserting).

Thankfully, after about a 2 year break, I finally got my husband to start playing games with me in the evenings sometimes, so I'm sure I can get this 2-player game to the table pretty soon.

Santa lives in Canada this year! He and Mrs. Clause sent me a gift from the North country. I received my gift and promptly wrapped it up and put it under my Christmas tree. I promised Santa that I was a good little girl and would not open it until Christmas Day. He gave me several clues about my gift and I am still working to narrow down the possibilities. He also said they were sending another gift out soon. I hope my Secret Santa enjoyed putting up the decorations this past weekend. I also hope he got some snow and had fun watching his very important football game Sunday.

Better than just receiving a mystery gift, though, was the special notes Santa sent to me. I really appreciate your hard work and effort and I know I will love the games you sent.

Merry Christmas from IdaHo!Ho!Ho!

Becky

Update: December 7th - I just received your other package today. Thanks Santa for going to the extra effort to personalize the gifts. I haven't opened them and I won't do that until Christmas. I hope your Santa gift comes soon. Sorry that the football game didn't turn out the way you were hoping it would.

I would like to once again thank my Super Canadian Santa. He really did a great job of finding the two top games on my wishlist and an expansion to one of my favorite games. He did a great job at taunting me and giving me hints, also. Thanks for making this the best Secret Santa ever! I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas in Alberta this year!

In addition to Airships, I received Scarab Lords, a gift certificate to Boulder Games, and some candy. These should make for some excellent lunchtime gaming with my wife!

Your taunts were excellent, and for some reason had me thinking there might might be a Cthulhu-themed game in the mix. Very nice obfuscation on your part, Santa. Not only are you lively and quick, but you're also devious...

Just comming back from job and I found a cartoon box at home, and inside and awesome At The Gates Of Loyang. Santa, thank you very much for this boargame. I will play it with my girlfriend this weekend, and maybe before with my playing group.

Tales of the Arabian Nights and Capt'n Clever. Also, a $5 Boulder games gift certificate.

One game that seems to be right up my alley, and one that will be a great game to play with my daughter(s). Beautifully wrapped, and quickly unwrapped. I expected my wife to tell me to leave them wrapped, but she seemed even more eager to see them opened than I was!

I'm pretty excited to try Tales of the Arabian Nights. I read enough to put it on my wishlist, but I haven't read in-depth reviews, which makes this even more fun - to learn about a game from the game instead of from BGG. (I really don't do that anymore!) My goodness is that box heavy.

Thanks again, Santa!

==

By the way, my Santa has a 3-year old and a 5-year old and plays Capt'n Clever with them. That's all I have to go on.

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Edit: After looking it over, Tales of the Arabian Nights went straight to the top of my 'want to play' list (aka Hot List). Nice.

Santa - I'm torn. I'm guessing that I made the nice list, so should I dig through the popcorn and see what is there before the 25th? The suspense is eating at me and it is only the first night!

Edit # 2: 12-4-09Santa - I have not heard back either way so... last night being game night I decided to dig into the popcorn. First game I found in the package was one that I have not played but read about here on the geek:

I say first game because the box is like 5 times bigger than just this game. I stopped there, figuring that This is all I would need for last night's game night. There is at least one more game in there and I'll report back once I continue digging.

Thanks for Batt'l Kha'os, once called the hardest game name to remember how to spell. We played it last night and it is an incredibly simple to explain game that has real depth and tough decisions! We had a blast playing it (even though I got my but kicked, several times)! This is one I least expected to receive this year and I'm most happy that you picked this out to send! Thanks SSanta!

Edit #3: 12-08-09Well still no word from SSanta, I know this is a busy time of the year for him. But seeing that today is my birthday, I decided to pull a new item or 2 from the box.

Thank you SSANTA! I'm a big fan of the Kosmos - Rio Grand 2 player series games. I have many of them and was really looking forward to playing this one. Plus the expansion! This is awesome! I know these will make it to the table very soon! The best part is that there seems to be a lot left buried! Well my family holiday party is under a week away. I'll hold off on excavating the rest until then.

Edit #4: 12-14-09

Well, the family holiday party was this weekend and I finally looked through the rest of the over-sized box. SSanta, you were took kind! I'm overwhelmed with your generosity!

With the Dark City expansion! This is a staple for nights where there are more than 3 but less than 8 players. It is a great game that I've played before and wanted to be able to bring to other game groups!

Thank you again! This was my first SSanta experience on BGG and I know I'll be back next year. I only hope my target was as happy with what I sent out as I am with how well you picked games that were perfect for my tastes.